Curb Your Enthusiasm isn't a series about everymen, let alone heroes. Its subject matter is as distant from the lives of its average viewer as economically possible, and its main characters aren't always portrayed as saints (though the likes of Ted Danson or Suzie Green certainly try to dress up to the contrary).
Larry David is prey to the kind of selfishness and pettiness that privilege leaves behind and that neuroticism exasperates. Given that he ruined his marriage over cable and coasters, Larry isn't meant to be the guy that people look up to. However, for all his faults, Larry isn't always a bad guy. He's a guy that wants to do good in the world (when it's convenient for him). And every once in a while, purposeful or accidental, he does.
Calling Out A "Chat And Cut"
This isn't so much Larry David saving the day as he is saving his place in the lunch line, though the sentiment has connected and inspired many. No one likes cutters, even if they paid for a Fast Pass. Unless someone has an emergency that demands priority service, cutting line is inexcusable in the grander etiquette of cafeteria decorum.
That's what makes Larry's effort in "Vow of Silence" so admirable, especially given how subversive the offender tried to be. After spotting a woman trying to chat her to the front of a lunch line with a near-total stranger, Larry David said what everyone wished they would've said in middle school cafeterias when he called her out and demanded that she wait like everybody else.
Honoring Seconds
While cutting with a "Chat and Cut" may be taboo in Larry's book, cutting for seconds certainly isn't. To him, cutting for seconds is an American right that he'll fervently protect! Little did he know, his drive to maintain line etiquette would actually save him. In the aptly named "Never Waits For Seconds!," Larry defends a man from an angry, dismissive crowd as he's trying to get a second helping of potatoes.
The guy already put up with waiting 10 minutes and just wanted some potatoes. He didn't deserve the grief. In a surprising twist of karmic fate, Larry here had actually saved a Muslim operative who would return the favor during Larry's troubles with a fatwa.
Helping A Blind Guy Move
Larry David is not always a charitable guy, but he'll do his best if put into a situation; and for a random, blind gentleman, he and Richard Lewis were the only ones in LA willing to give him a helping hand.
Having just moved to the city, a lone blind man had apparently been calling for help for over an hour for people to help him move some stuff. While it turned out to be much more than some stuff, Larry and Richard ended up doing a good thing, albeit reluctantly.
"Protecting" A Stewardess
Larry can be a hero, whether he intends to or not. Sometimes, it just takes some courage, intuition, and untied shoelaces. In "The Hero," Larry accidentally ends up saving a stewardess from a drunken passenger. The man had been berating her for more drinks and was beginning to get hostile.
Right out of the bathroom, Larry tries to pass by but trips on his shoelaces and accidentally tackles the guy, unaware of what just transpired. The drunk immediately starts to apologize and recedes to his seat, while the stewardess and the rest of the cabin thank Larry for his supposed bravery.
Saving The Producers' Tour
As his original HBO special set out to prove, Larry isn't always comfortable in the spotlight. That had to change in Season 4 when he was scouted by Mel Brooks to perform in the comedic actor's legendary musical, The Producers. When showtime finally arrives, Larry gives the performance of his life...only to forget his lines and freeze in the middle of the show.
This would've been disastrous, but Larry manages to show the entertainment side of him that few people get to see. He masterfully starts his standup act to ease the crowd, and they're laughing all the way until he actually remembers his lines and continues the show. In a way that only he could, Larry ended up saving the show, much to Mel Brooks' dismay.
Giving Richard Lewis A Kidney
In an act of generosity that no one thought Larry David would do, not even himself, Larry ends up saving Richard Lewis's life. Season 5 focused on Richard Lewis trying to find a kidney donor, and Larry trying to find out if he's adopted. In a mystery solver's clerical error, Larry is told that he is adopted and that his real parents are actually Christian.
Having this thin idea of what it means to be gentile and Christian, Larry uncharacteristically offers to give Richard his kidney, only to find out as he's getting his anesthetic that he's not really adopted. Richard Lewis's life gets saved, and Larry ends up on his death bed.
Joining The Cursing Chef
Season 3 focuses on Larry and his friends trying to open up a restaurant together. In "The Grand Opening," arguably the best episode of the season, Larry has to find a new chef quickly after the first few left for Larry David reasons. Thanks to a tip from a local, food critic, Larry hires a recently available and talented chef, not knowing that this man aggressively curses due to Tourette's.
When the chef starts screaming obscenities out of nowhere during opening night, Larry has his golden moment to save the man and the chef from embarrassment and begins cursing with him. As if this was Spartacus, he manages to lead everyone in solidarity to curse in a hilarious chorus.
Saving Susie's Life With Sponge Cakes
In the grand Rube Goldberg machine that is a Curb Your Enthusiasm storyline, things just have a way of working out. In "The Nanny from Hell," Larry buys a bunch of sponge cakes from his soon-to-be-closed favorite bakery. This coincides with his latest misadventure with a fired nanny, who he tries to pass off to Jeff and Susie Greene alongside his surplus of sponge cakes.
Susie is quick to throw away the sponge cakes but gives the nanny a chance. Unbeknownst to her, the nanny is a little unstable; and after being triggered by the Looney Tunes themes, she throws Susie off a balcony. Fortunately for Susie, Larry's favorite sponge cakes were there to break her fall.
Knowing A Thing Or Two About Lyme Disease
Who knew that Larry David's obsession with diseases and ailments would actually save a life and not just inconvenience a doctor? In "The Reunion," Susie Greene comes down with a mysterious cold that she just can't shake. The doctors can't find anything wrong with her, but Larry out of the blue asks her if she's been around any tall grass.
He picks up on the symptoms of Lyme disease and, despite his tumultuous history with her, lets her know that she may have gotten it from a tick bite. Not only does he save Susie's life, but this also came in handy with saving one, lucky television exec's life. Lucky in the sense that Larry's coin flip favored them.
Saving A Man From Death Row
Curb Your Enthusiasm doesn't have a lot of real-world impact besides giving Larry David something to do post-Seinfeld. However, it may have ended up becoming the most important show in the world for a man facing death row. In 2003, Juan Catalan was charged with murder. His only alibi was being at a Los Angeles Dodger game at the time of the murder, but he struggled to find proof.
Fortunately for him, he attended the game the same day Larry was filming a bit for "The Car Pool Lane." Hidden within unused footage, Juan was found in the background of the episode and was cleared of his charges.